Personalized ambient lighting

ABSTRACT

According to one aspect, personalized vehicle ambient lighting on a vehicle is provided. Presence information associated with a user is detected. Image color information is captured from an image is taken by a camera such that the user is within the image. Image color information associated with the user is extracted from the image. Red, green, blue (RGB) color values indicative of a color associated with the user are created. A light emitting diode (LED) activation scheme based on the RGB color values associated with the user is generated. Portions of a plurality of RGB LEDs are activated based on the LED activation scheme.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part (CIP) of and claims priorityto U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 14/831,954 (AttorneyDocket No. HRA-39672) entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR VEHICLE AMBIENTLIGHTING”, filed on Aug. 21, 2015; the entirety of the above-notedapplication is incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

Vehicles typically have interior lighting for illuminating an interiorof the vehicle. Vehicle interior lighting can include a variety ofdifferent illumination schemes, such as providing an overhead light in aflood light configuration to light the entire interior or providingreading lights concentrating the light into tightly focused spot lightconfigurations useful for reading, for example.

Ambient lighting typically consists of one or more light sources whichprovide a soft, diffused lighting throughout much of the vehicleinterior. Light emitting diodes (LEDs) are used for generating vehicleambient illumination. White LEDs have been commonly used which providewhite ambient lighting. More recently, colored ambient lighting isavailable. Colored light can be generated using colored lenses overwhite lights to produce ambient light of a predetermined color asdefined by the color of the lens used. Alternatively, LEDs having acolor other than white can be used. Combinations of colored Red, Green,and Blue (RGB) LEDs are also used to produce colored ambient lighting.

Many ambient lighting systems do not enable the occupant to choose thecolor of the ambient light illuminating the vehicle interior. Somesystems provide the occupant with a limited choice of preselectedambient lighting colors to choose from. It is desirable to enable theoccupant to select her own, personalized color of ambient light forilluminating the vehicle interior.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

In accordance with one aspect of the disclosure, a vehicle ambientlighting system for producing personalized, user-defined color ofambient light is provided. The vehicle ambient lighting system includesa camera having an image sensor capturing image color information from acolored surface forming a user defined ambient lighting color selection.An image processor operably connected to the image sensor receives theimage color information and creates RGB color values representing thecolor of the colored surface. A controller processor operably connectedto the image processor generates a light emitting diode (LED) activationscheme, and an LED driver activates a plurality of RGB LEDs inaccordance with the LED activation scheme to produce vehicle ambientlighting having a color which matches the color of the ambient lightingcolor selection.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a vehicle ambientlighting system for producing user-defined color of ambient light usinga human machine interface (HMI) is provided. The vehicle ambientlighting system includes a camera having an image sensor capturing imagecolor information from a colored surface forming a user defined ambientlighting color selection. An image processor is operably connected tothe image sensor receives the image color information and creates red,green, blue (RGB) color values representing the color of the coloredsurface. A controller having a processor operably connected to the imageprocessor generates a light emitting diode (LED) activation scheme usingthe RGB color values. A human machine interface provides a userinterface for operating the vehicle ambient lighting. An LED driver isconnected to the controller for activating a plurality of RGB LEDs inaccordance with the LED activation scheme to produce vehicle ambientlighting having a color matching the user defined ambient lighting colorselection.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a method ofgenerating colored vehicle ambient lighting is provided. The methodincludes presenting a colored surface forming a user defined ambientlighting color selection to a vehicle camera image sensor, triggeringthe camera to capture image color information from the colored surface,creating RGB color values representing the color of the colored surface,generating an LED activation scheme using the RGB color values, andactivating a plurality of RGB LEDs in accordance with the LED activationscheme to generate vehicle ambient lighting having a color matching theuser defined ambient lighting color selection.

According to one aspect, a system for personalized vehicle ambientlighting on a vehicle includes a vehicle entry sensor, a camera, acontroller, an image processor, a plurality of red, green, blue (RGB)light emitting diodes (LEDs), and an LED driver. The plurality of RGBLEDs may be a first plurality of RGB LEDs associated with a firstlighting system. The vehicle entry sensor detects presence informationassociated with a user. The camera includes an image sensor capturingimage color information from an image taken by the camera. Thecontroller includes a processor operably connected to the camera andcontrols the camera to take the image when the user is in view of thecamera. The image processor extracts image color information associatedwith the user from the image and creates RGB color values indicative ofa color associated with the user. The processor for the controllergenerates an LED activation scheme based on the RGB color valuesassociated with the user. The LED driver may be a first LED driver ofmultiple LED drivers is connected to the controller and the firstplurality of RGB LEDs and activates portions of the first plurality ofRGB LEDs based on the LED activation scheme to produce personalizedvehicle ambient lighting having a color matching the color associatedwith the user.

According to one aspect, a method for personalized vehicle ambientlighting on a vehicle may include detecting presence informationassociated with a user, capturing image color information from an imagetaken by the camera such that the user is within the image, extractingimage color information associated with the user from the image,creating red, green, blue (RGB) color values indicative of a colorassociated with the user, generating a light emitting diode (LED)activation scheme based on the RGB color values associated with theuser, and activating portions of a plurality of RGB LEDs based on theLED activation scheme.

According to one aspect, a method for personalized vehicle ambientlighting on a vehicle may include detecting presence informationassociated with a user, capturing image color information from an imagetaken by the camera such that the user is within the image, extracting afirst and second image color information associated with the user fromthe image, creating first and second red, green, blue (RGB) color valuesindicative of a first and second color associated with the user based onthe extracted first and second image color information, generating afirst and second light emitting diode (LED) activation scheme based onthe first and second RGB color values associated with the user, andactivating portions of a first and second plurality of RGB LEDs based onthe first and second LED activation schemes, respectively.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a system for generatingpersonalized color of vehicle ambient lighting, according to one or moreembodiments.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of a method of generating a personalizedvehicle ambient lighting color for the system of FIG. 1, according toone or more embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of a system for generatingpersonalized color of vehicle ambient lighting, according to one or moreembodiments.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a method of generating a personalizedvehicle ambient lighting color for the system of FIG. 3, according toone or more embodiments.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of an example computer-readable medium orcomputer-readable device including processor-executable instructionsconfigured to embody one or more of the provisions set forth herein,according to one or more embodiments.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of an example computing environment where oneor more of the provisions set forth herein are implemented, according toone or more embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It should be understood that the description and drawings herein aremerely illustrative and that various modifications and changes can beenvisioned without departing from the present disclosure. It will alsobe appreciated that the various identified components of the exemplaryvehicle ambient lighting system disclosed herein are merely terms of artthat may vary from one manufacturer to another and should not be deemedto limit the present disclosure.

The embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding oridentical elements throughout the various drawings. Referring now toFIG. 1, a schematic illustration of a vehicle is shown generally at 100.The vehicle can be an automobile, car, truck, minivan, sport utilityvehicle (SUV), or another type of vehicle having an interior vehicleambient lighting system 102. The vehicle ambient lighting system 102includes a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) which include Red(R₁, R₂, . . . R_(i)), Green (G₁, G₂, . . . G_(i)) and Blue (B₁, B₂, . .. B_(i)) diodes, also known as RGB LEDs 104, which are activated toproduce ambient lighting to illuminate the interior of the vehicle 100.The RGB LEDs 104 can also include a plurality of clear LEDs, accordingto one or more aspects.

An LED driver 106 is electrically connected to the RGB LEDs 104 toselectively activate the individual red, green, and blue LEDs to anydesired illumination intensity, thereby creating light of variableintensity having any desired color. One or more power supplies 108provide the RGB LEDs 104 with sufficient voltage and current to providethe wide range of illumination intensity sufficient for generating anydesired color.

A controller 110 is operatively coupled to the LED driver 106 forcontrolling the operation of the vehicle ambient lighting system 102.The controller 110 is a computing device which includes one or moreprocessors 112 programmed to perform computer-executable instructionsembodied on computer-readable storage media or a memory 114. Whenexecuted by at the least one processor 112, the computer-executableinstructions cause the processor to perform the operations describedherein, including controlling the vehicle ambient lighting system 102 tocreate a personalized, user-defined color of illumination, such asaccording to the method 200 of FIG. 2.

The controller 110 provides the LED driver 106 with an LED activationscheme for activating select RGB LEDs 104 to sufficient respectiveillumination intensities so that the combined effect produces ambientlight of variable intensity having any desired color, as described ingreater detail herein. The controller 110 can also control the vehicleambient lighting system 102 in a variety of conventional manners such asturning the vehicle ambient lighting system 102 on and off, controllinggeneral illumination intensity, lighting different locations within thevehicle, etc.

A human machine interface (HMI) 116 is operatively coupled to thecontroller 110 for enabling a user to operate the vehicle ambientlighting system 102. The HMI 116 can include a display 117, such as atouch screen, having a graphical user interface (GUI), for example. Theuser can control the vehicle ambient lighting system 102 using the HMI116 to produce ambient lighting of any desired color in a mannerdescribed in greater detail herein.

The vehicle 100 includes a camera 118 for use in the vehicle ambientlighting system 102. The camera 118 can be a dashboard camera, a backupcamera, or any other suitable camera having an image sensor 120 capableof capturing a color image, also referred to as a digital picture. Theimage sensor 120 can be a semiconductor charge-coupled device (CCD), oractive pixel sensor in complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS),or other type of image sensor used in cameras.

The camera 118 includes an image processor 122 which receives colorimage data for an object captured by the image sensor 120 when thecamera is triggered to take a picture. In the examples described herein,the object is a colored surface 124 associated with a color which may beused for desired ambient lighting. The colored surface 124 can be acolor swatch, a paint chip, a photograph, or any colored surface fromwhich the user intends to create matching colored ambient lighting inthe vehicle 100. The image processor 122 receives the color image datafrom the image sensor 120 and creates RGB color values which representthe color of the colored surface 124. In one or more embodiments, theimage processor 122 is separate from the camera 118. The RGB colorvalues are derived in accordance with an RGB color model appropriate forthe specific RGB LEDs 104 used in the ambient lighting system. This RGBcolor model can be predetermined using LED data supplied at the time ofmanufacture of the vehicle ambient lighting system 102. For example, theRGB color model can be a sRGB color model. As another example, the RGBcolor model can be Adobe RGB, which includes a larger range (e.g.,gamut) of colors than sRGB, especially in the blues and cyans, toproduce a larger variety of ambient lighting colors. The RGB color modelcan be updated or re-defined at periodic intervals, or as desired.

The controller 110 receives the RGB color values from the imageprocessor 122. For example, the RGB color values can be stored in acolor look-up table in the memory 114 of the controller 110. Thecontroller 110 creates an RGB LED activation scheme using the RGB colorvalues for selectively activating the RGB LEDs 104 with sufficientintensity such that the combined effect produces ambient illuminationhaving a color which matches the color of the colored surface 124. Thecontroller 110 communicates with the LED driver 106 using the LEDactivation scheme for activating the RGB LEDs 104 to produce the coloredambient light. Some or all of the RGB LEDs 104 can be illuminated toproduce the appropriate color.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a method of generating vehicle ambient lightinghaving a personalized, user-defined color is shown generally at 200. Auser operates the vehicle ambient lighting system 102 using the HMI 116described above. The user begins operating the ambient lighting colorselection routine using the HMI GUI. The user is instructed to present acolored surface to the camera at 202 and trigger the activation of thecamera. Upon receiving the trigger signal at 204, the camera 118 takesan image of the color surface capturing image color information at 206and sends the image data to the image processor 122. The image processor122 generates RGB color values representing the color of the coloredsurface at 208.

The image processor 122 sends the RGB color values to the controller 110which generates an RGB LED activation scheme at 210 for activatingselect RGB LEDs 104 at suitable intensities to generate ambient lightinghaving a color which matches the color of the colored surface, asdescribed above. The controller 110 communicates with the LED driver 106using the RGB LED activation scheme to activate the RGB LEDs 104 at 212and produce an interior ambient light having a color which matches thecolor of the colored surface corresponding to the user defined ambientlighting color selection.

The HMI 116 then queries the user at 214, generating a request or aprompt to save the LED activation scheme. Upon receiving an indicationfrom the user (e.g., the response to the prompt of 214) to save the LEDactivation scheme in response to the request, the LED activation schemeis saved in memory at 216. The HMI can produce a request that the userenter a storage identifier for the LED activation scheme, according toone or more aspects. Thus, the ambient lighting color selection can besaved using any suitable naming convention and made available for futureretrieval.

In one or more embodiments, the LED activation scheme can be saved inassociation with the user, such as for example, by using a user ID oraccount number, or in any other suitable manner. The LED activationscheme can be saved in association with the owner of the fob thatpreviously started the vehicle, or activated the ignition. The LEDactivation scheme is discarded, if not saved.

The HMI then queries the user at 218, generating a request to createanother user defined ambient lighting color selection. Upon receiving anindication from the user to proceed, the process is repeated beginningagain at 202. Alternatively, if the user chooses not to repeat orcontinue, the process or method 200 ends at 220.

The systems and methods of generating user defined ambient lightingcolors disclosed herein enables a vehicle owner to chose a color tomatch his or her exact mood and desire, thereby creating a morepersonalized driving experience.

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of a system 102 for generatingpersonalized color of vehicle ambient lighting, according to one or moreembodiments. In FIG. 3, a vehicle 100 includes the system 102 forgenerating personalized color of vehicle ambient lighting. The system102 includes one or more of the components of the system of FIG. 1. Thesystem 102 includes a controller 110, a human machine interface (HMI)116, a camera 118, an electronic control unit (ECU) 130 which may be abody control module (BCM), a vehicle entry sensor 140, a telematics unit150, and one or more lighting systems 160, 170, 180. The camera 118includes an image sensor 120 and an image processor 122. The controller110 includes a processor 112 and a memory 114. The HMI 116 includes adisplay 117. Each one of the first, second, and third lighting systems160, 170, 180 includes a first, second, and third LED driver (106 a, 106b, 106 c), a first, second, and third power supply (108 a, 108 b, 108c), and a first, second, and third plurality of RGB LEDs (104 a, 104 b,104 c). In one or more embodiments, a single LED driver may drivedifferent groups or pluralities of RGB LEDs 104 a, 104 b, 104 c.Similarly, the RGB LEDs 104 a, 104 b, 104 c may be tied to a commonpower supply in other embodiments. Regardless, the controller 110 maycontrol different pluralities or groups of RGB LEDs 104 a, 104 b, 104 c.Further, in one or more embodiments, processing performed by the imageprocessor 122 may be alternatively or in combination, performed by theprocessor 112 of the controller 110 or be separate from both the camera118 and the controller 110.

In any event, the lighting systems 160, 170, and 180 of the vehicle 100,may be non-driving related lighting systems, such as a puddle lightsystem, an internal ambient lighting system, an external ambientlighting system, etc. One or more of these lighting systems 160, 170, or180 may be red, green, and blue or RGB capable in a manner consistentwith the RGB LEDs 104 of FIG. 1, thereby enabling the lighting systems160, 170, and 180 to produce most any color by activating different RGBLEDs of the plurality of RGB LEDs. Similarly, the power supplies 108 a,108 b, and 108 c and the LED drivers 106 a, 106 b, and 106 c may performsimilarly to the power supply 108 of FIG. 1 and the LED driver 106 ofFIG. 1.

The system 102 for generating personalized color of vehicle ambientlighting of FIG. 3 utilizes the camera 118 to capture a color associatedwith a user approaching the vehicle, detected by the vehicle entrysensor 140, such as a driver with a key fob, and customize the ambientlighting of one or more of the lighting systems 160, 170, or 180 (e.g.,a puddle light system, internal ambient lighting system, or externalambient lighting system, etc.) accordingly. In other words, the ambientlighting may be tuned individually based on the user walking orapproaching the vehicle 100.

The vehicle entry sensor 140 may detect presence information associatedwith a user approaching the vehicle. The vehicle entry sensor 140 maydetect this presence information in a variety of ways according toseveral embodiments. For example, the vehicle entry sensor 140 may be atouch sensor (e.g., capacitive touch sensor, pressure sensor, etc.) on adoor or door handle of the vehicle 100. In this example, the vehicleentry sensor 140 detects presence information based on contact betweenthe user and the door or the door handle of the vehicle where the touchsensor is located or mounted. However, it will be appreciated that othertypes of sensors or proximity sensors may be used to detect presenceinformation of an approaching user. Examples of sensors includecapacitive, inductive, magnetic, proximity, passive sensors, opticalsensors, thermal sensors, photocells, radar, sonar, wireless,ultrasonic, fiber optic, Hall-effect sensors, etc.

As another example, a key fob may have a magnet mounted thereon and whena user holding the key fob approaches the vehicle, the magnet maytrigger the vehicle entry sensor 140 and alert the system 102 forgenerating personalized color of vehicle ambient lighting that the useris within a proximity or a threshold distance of the vehicle 100. Assuch, the vehicle entry sensor 140 may detect presence information of auser based on a proximity of the key fob from the vehicle entry sensor140. In any event, when the vehicle entry sensor 140 detects a user, theECU 130 or the controller 110 may issue a command to the camera 118 tocapture an image of the user 126. For example, the camera 118 may bemounted on the door handle or at a location on the vehicle 100 whichenables a clear shot or image of the user 126 to be taken.

The controller 110 may order the camera 118 or the image sensor 120 ofthe camera 118 to capture an image of the user 126. In one or moreembodiments, the controller 110 may identify the user 126, one or morearticles of clothing or attire of the user 126, and cause the imagesensor 120 to capture one or more images of the user 126. The controller110 may control the camera 118 or image sensor 120 thereof to take orcapture the image such that the user 126 is in view of the camera 118.In this way, the controller 110 controls the camera 118 to capture theimage such that the user 126 is within the image. In one or moreembodiments, the controller 110 may control panning of the camera 118,if available, motion tracking, or focus lock on the user 126 while theuser 126 is walking, moving, or approaching the vehicle 100.

The camera 118 may be a Multiview camera and may include an image sensor120 and the image processor 122. As previously discussed, the imagesensor 120 may capture image color information from an image taken orcaptured by the camera 118. Because the controller 110 commands thecamera 118 to capture images of the user 126, the image colorinformation of such an image includes image color information associatedwith the user 126. According to one aspect, the camera 118 may take acolor cue from the driver's attire or the passenger's attire.

The image processor 122 may extract image color information associatedwith the user from the image. In one or more embodiments, the processor112 or the image processor 122 may identify one or more articles ofclothing of the user and extract respective image color informationassociated therewith. In other words, the image processor 122 mayextract image color information associated with an article of clothingof the user 126 based on the image captured by the image sensor 120.When the user 126 is wearing multiple articles of clothing oraccessories or other attire, the image processor 122 may determine andextract one or more sets of image color information (e.g., primary imagecolor information, secondary image color information, tertiary imagecolor information, predominant image color information, etc.). Whether acolor is primary, secondary, tertiary, etc. may be based on an amount oftwo-dimensional area that color occupies in the image. A predominantcolor may be defined as occupying a predetermined percentage or greateror associated with a predetermined area ratio (e.g., 2:1 of the 2-Darea), etc. In this way, the image processor 122 may determine a colorassociated with the user 126.

The image processor 122 may create red, green, blue (RGB) color valuesassociated with one or more sets of the image color information. Inother words, the image processor 122 may create one or more RGB colorvalues indicative of a color associated with the article of clothing ofthe user 126 or a color associated with the user 126. As a result, theimage processor 122 may create RGB color values for a predominant color,a primary color, a secondary color, a tertiary color, etc.

The processor 112 or the controller 110 may generate a light emittingdiode (LED) activation scheme based on one or more of the RGB colorvalues associated with the user (or the user's attire, clothing, oraccessories). According to one aspect, different lighting systems of160, 170, and 180 may be provided with different LED activation schemes.In other words, depending on the number of articles of clothing the useris wearing or the number of lighting systems 160, 170, 180 installed inthe vehicle 100, a mode of the system 102, etc., any number of LEDactivation schemes may be generated. For example, if the vehicle 100includes two lighting systems 160 and 170, the processor 112 may merelygenerate two (e.g., a first and a second) LED activation schemes basedon the color of the user's shirt and pants, respectively. Alternatively,if the system 102 is in an ambient mode, the processor 112 may generatea single LED activation scheme based on the predominant color detectedin the image. In other modes, the processor 112 may generate additionalschemes (which may be implemented at different points in time), forexample. The LED activation schemes may correspond to one or more of thecolors described above (e.g., predominant color, primary color,secondary color, tertiary color, etc.) or may interweave one or more ofthese colors at different points in time, phasing in and out amongdifferent LED activation schemes, similarly to a screen-saver.

As a result, the first LED driver 106 a may activate portions of thefirst plurality of RGB LEDs 104 a based on the first LED activationscheme, thereby causing the first plurality of RGB LEDs 104 a to exhibitor produce a color according to the corresponding LED activation scheme(e.g., which may be the user's shirt color) or otherwise producepersonalized vehicle ambient lighting having a color matching the colorassociated with the user 126 (or associated article of clothing).According to the example where the processor 112 generates two LEDactivation schemes (based on the color of the user's shirt and pants),the second LED driver 106 b may activate portions of the secondplurality of RGB LEDs 104 b, which causes these LEDs to produce thesecondary color (e.g., which may be the user's pants color).

According to one aspect, the camera 118 may take a color cue based on atime of day, weather report, climate determination, outside temperature,etc. when image color information associated with the user isunavailable. This may occur for a variety of different reasons. Forexample, if the camera 118 or the image sensor 120 malfunctions, theimage is out of focus, the image is captured without the user 126 in theimage, an obstacle is in the way (e.g., a bird flies in between thecamera 118 and the user 126 during image capture), then image colorinformation associated with the user would be unavailable. The imageprocessor 122 or the processor 112 may use object recognition algorithmsor software to detect whether the user 126 is captured within the image.If it is determined that the image color information associated with theuser is unavailable, the processor 112 may generate the LED activationscheme based on one or more alternatives.

According to one aspect, the camera 118 may take a color cue based on apredetermined profile, a predetermined theme, or a predetermined colorpalette when color information is unavailable. This information may beobtained from the memory 114 of the controller 110 or from thetelematics unit 150 and passed to the controller 110. According toanother aspect, the processor 112 may generate the LED activation schemebased on a profile associated with the key fob, a time of day, a weatherreport, a predetermined color palette, or randomly when image colorinformation associated with the user is unavailable. This informationmay be obtained from the telematics unit 150 via a telematics channel.The profile information or the predetermined color palette may be storedon the memory 114, while the time of day or weather report may bereceived via the telematics unit 150. As such, when it is cloudy, forexample, the LED activation scheme may cause one of the sets of RGB LEDs104 a, 104 b, or 104 c to produce a grey color (e.g., thereby matchingthe color of the clouds). Further, the LED activation scheme may betuned based on the intensity of the weather (e.g., if it is windy ormore rainy, change colors, intensity, pulse of the RGB LEDs 104 a, 104b, or 104 c based on the intensity thereof).

In other embodiments, the LED activation scheme may be updated on acontinual basis or be based on a speed at which the user 126 is walkingor a distance between the user 126 and the vehicle 100. For example, theLED activation scheme may include an adjustment to a brightness, anintensity, or a duration of activation based on a proximity of the user126 to the vehicle 100. In this example, the RGB LEDs 104 a, 104 b, or104 c may be illuminated brighter or more intensely as the user 126approaches the vehicle 100 more closely. As another example, the LEDactivation scheme may include an adjustment to a brightness, anintensity, or a duration of activation based on the speed of the user ora walking pattern for the user. In this example, the RGB LEDs 104 a, 104b, or 104 c may be illuminated brighter or more intensely as the user126 takes each step so that the LEDs pulse as the user 126 walks.

FIG. 4 illustrates a method 400 of personalized vehicle ambient lightingon a vehicle. At 402, the method 400 includes detecting a userapproaching a vehicle. As previously discussed, a variety ofimplementations or embodiments having different sensor types may beused. At 404, an image of the user is captured. A controller may enabletarget tracking, focus lock, or panning of a camera so that the user isthe primary focus or target in the image captured. At 406, a colorassociated with the user is determined and at 408, corresponding RGBcolor values are generated or created. These RGB color values are usedto generate an LED activation scheme for one or more lighting systems ofa vehicle at 410. At 412, the RGB LEDs are activated according to theLED activation scheme.

Still another embodiment involves a computer-readable medium includingprocessor-executable instructions configured to implement one or moreembodiments of the techniques presented herein. An embodiment of acomputer-readable medium or a computer-readable device devised in theseways is illustrated in FIG. 5, wherein an implementation 500 includes acomputer-readable medium 508, such as a CD-R, DVD-R, flash drive, aplatter of a hard disk drive, etc., on which is encodedcomputer-readable data 506. This computer-readable data 506, such asbinary data including a plurality of zero's and one's as shown in 506,in turn includes a set of processor-executable computer instructions 504configured to operate according to one or more of the principles setforth herein. In one such embodiment 500, the processor-executablecomputer instructions 504 may be configured to perform a method 502,such as the method 200 of FIG. 2 or the method 400 of FIG. 4. In anotherembodiment, the processor-executable computer instructions 504 may beconfigured to implement a system, such as the vehicle ambient lightingsystem 102 of FIG. 1 or FIG. 3. Many such computer-readable media may bedevised by those of ordinary skill in the art that are configured tooperate in accordance with the techniques presented herein.

As used in this application, the terms “component”, “module,” “system”,“interface”, and the like are generally intended to refer to acomputer-related entity, either hardware, a combination of hardware andsoftware, software, or software in execution. For example, a componentmay be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, aprocessor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program,or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on acontroller and the controller may be a component. One or more componentsresiding within a process or thread of execution and a component may belocalized on one computer or distributed between two or more computers.

Further, the claimed subject matter is implemented as a method,apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programming orengineering techniques to produce software, firmware, hardware, or anycombination thereof to control a computer to implement the disclosedsubject matter. The term “article of manufacture” as used herein isintended to encompass a computer program accessible from anycomputer-readable device, carrier, or media. Of course, manymodifications may be made to this configuration without departing fromthe scope or spirit of the claimed subject matter.

FIG. 6 and the following discussion provide a description of a suitablecomputing environment to implement embodiments of one or more of theprovisions set forth herein. The operating environment of FIG. 6 ismerely one example of a suitable operating environment and is notintended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use orfunctionality of the operating environment. Example computing devicesinclude, but are not limited to, personal computers, server computers,hand-held or laptop devices, mobile devices, such as mobile phones,Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), media players, and the like,multiprocessor systems, consumer electronics, mini computers, mainframecomputers, distributed computing environments that include any of theabove systems or devices, etc.

Generally, embodiments are described in the general context of “computerreadable instructions” being executed by one or more computing devices.Computer readable instructions may be distributed via computer readablemedia as will be discussed below. Computer readable instructions may beimplemented as program modules, such as functions, objects, ApplicationProgramming Interfaces (APIs), data structures, and the like, thatperform one or more tasks or implement one or more abstract data types.Typically, the functionality of the computer readable instructions arecombined or distributed as desired in various environments.

FIG. 6 illustrates a system 600 including a computing device 612configured to implement one or more embodiments provided herein. In oneconfiguration, computing device 612 includes at least one processingunit 616 and memory 618. Depending on the exact configuration and typeof computing device, memory 618 may be volatile, such as RAM,non-volatile, such as ROM, flash memory, etc., or a combination of thetwo. This configuration is illustrated in FIG. 6 by dashed line 614.

In other embodiments, the computing device 612 includes additionalfeatures or functionality. For example, the computing device 612 mayinclude additional storage such as removable storage or non-removablestorage, including, but not limited to, magnetic storage, opticalstorage, etc. Such additional storage is illustrated in FIG. 6 bystorage 620. In one or more embodiments, computer readable instructionsto implement one or more embodiments provided herein are in storage 620.Storage 620 may store other computer readable instructions to implementan operating system, an application program, etc. Computer readableinstructions may be loaded in memory 618 for execution by processingunit 616, for example.

The term “computer readable media” as used herein includes computerstorage media. Computer storage media includes volatile and nonvolatile,removable and non-removable media implemented in any method ortechnology for storage of information such as computer readableinstructions or other data. Memory 618 and storage 620 are examples ofcomputer storage media. Computer storage media includes, but is notlimited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology,CD-ROM, Digital Versatile Disks (DVDs) or other optical storage,magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or othermagnetic storage devices, or any other medium which may be used to storethe desired information and which may be accessed by device 612. Anysuch computer storage media is part of device 612.

The term “computer readable media” includes communication media.Communication media typically embodies computer readable instructions orother data in a “modulated data signal” such as a carrier wave or othertransport mechanism and includes any information delivery media. Theterm “modulated data signal” includes a signal that has one or more ofits characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encodeinformation in the signal.

Device 612 includes input device(s) 624 such as keyboard, mouse, pen,voice input device, touch input device, infrared cameras, video inputdevices, or any other input device. Output device(s) 622 such as one ormore displays, speakers, printers, or any other output device may beincluded with device 612. Input device(s) 624 and output device(s) 622may be connected to device 612 via a wired connection, wirelessconnection, or any combination thereof. In one or more embodiments, aninput device or an output device from another computing device may beused as input device(s) 624 or output device(s) 622 for computing device612. Device 612 may include communication connection(s) 626 tofacilitate communications with one or more other devices 630, such asthrough network 628, for example.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features or methodological acts, it is to be understood thatthe subject matter of the appended claims is not necessarily limited tothe specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specificfeatures and acts described above are disclosed as example embodiments.

Various operations of embodiments are provided herein. The order inwhich one or more or all of the operations are described should not beconstrued as to imply that these operations are necessarily orderdependent. Alternative ordering will be appreciated based on thisdescription. Further, not all operations may necessarily be present ineach embodiment provided herein.

As used in this application, “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or”rather than an exclusive “or”. Further, an inclusive “or” may includeany combination thereof (e.g., A, B, or any combination thereof). Inaddition, “a” and “an” as used in this application are generallyconstrued to mean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear fromcontext to be directed to a singular form. Additionally, at least one ofA and B and/or the like generally means A or B or both A and B. Further,to the extent that “includes”, “having”, “has”, “with”, or variantsthereof are used in either the detailed description or the claims, suchterms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term“comprising”.

Further, unless specified otherwise, “first”, “second”, or the like arenot intended to imply a temporal aspect, a spatial aspect, an ordering,etc. Rather, such terms are merely used as identifiers, names, etc. forfeatures, elements, items, etc. For example, a first channel and asecond channel generally correspond to channel A and channel B or twodifferent or two identical channels or the same channel. Additionally,“comprising”, “comprises”, “including”, “includes”, or the likegenerally means comprising or including, but not limited to.

It will be appreciated that various of the above-disclosed and otherfeatures and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be desirablycombined into many other different systems or applications. Also thatvarious presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives,modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequentlymade by those skilled in the art which are also intended to beencompassed by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for personalized vehicle ambientlighting on a vehicle, comprising: a vehicle entry sensor detectingpresence information associated with a user; a camera comprising animage sensor capturing image color information from an image taken bythe camera; a controller having a processor operably connected to thecamera and controlling the camera to take the image when the user is inview of the camera; an image processor extracting image colorinformation associated with the user from the image and creating red,green, blue (RGB) color values indicative of a color associated with theuser, wherein the processor for the controller generates a lightemitting diode (LED) activation scheme based on the RGB color valuesassociated with the user; a first plurality of red, green, blue (RGB)LEDs; and a first LED driver connected to the controller and the firstplurality of RGB LEDs and activating portions of the first plurality ofRGB LEDs based on the LED activation scheme to produce personalizedvehicle ambient lighting having a color matching the color associatedwith the user.
 2. The system of claim 1, comprising: a second pluralityof RGB LEDs; and a second LED driver connected to the controller and thesecond plurality of RGB LEDs and activating portions of the secondplurality of RGB LEDs based on the LED activation scheme.
 3. The systemof claim 2, wherein the second LED driver activates portions of thesecond plurality of RGB LEDs based on the LED activation scheme toproduce personalized vehicle ambient lighting having a color differentthan the color of the first plurality of RGB LEDs.
 4. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the first plurality of RGB LEDs is associated with apuddle light system, an internal ambient lighting system, or an externalambient lighting system.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the vehicleentry sensor detects the presence information associated with the userbased on a proximity of a key fob from the vehicle entry sensor.
 6. Thesystem of claim 5, wherein the processor for the controller generatesthe LED activation scheme based on a profile associated with the key fobwhen image color information associated with the user is unavailable. 7.The system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle entry sensor is a touchsensor which detects the presence information associated with the userbased on contact between the user and a door or door handle of thevehicle.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller controls thecamera to pan and motion track the user or focus lock on the user whilethe user is moving.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the imageprocessor extracts image color information associated with an article ofclothing of the user and creates the RGB color values indicative of acolor associated with the article of clothing, and wherein the processorfor the controller generates the LED activation scheme based on the RGBcolor values associated with the article of clothing.
 10. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the processor for the controller generates the LEDactivation scheme based on a time of day, a weather report, apredetermined color palette, or randomly when image color informationassociated with the user is unavailable.
 11. The system of claim 10,comprising a telematics unit receiving the time of day or the weatherreport.
 12. The system of claim 10, wherein the controller comprises amemory storing the predetermined color palette.
 13. The system of claim1, wherein the processor for the controller generates the LED activationscheme on a continually updated basis based on a speed at which the useris walking, and wherein the LED activation scheme includes an adjustmentto a brightness, an intensity, or a duration of activation based on thespeed of the user.
 14. The system of claim 1, wherein the LED activationscheme includes an adjustment to a brightness, an intensity, or aduration of activation based on a proximity of the user to the vehicle.15. A method for personalized vehicle ambient lighting on a vehicle,comprising: detecting presence information associated with a user;capturing image color information from an image taken by a camera suchthat the user is within the image; extracting image color informationassociated with the user from the image; creating red, green, blue (RGB)color values indicative of a color associated with the user; generatinga light emitting diode (LED) activation scheme based on the RGB colorvalues associated with the user; and activating portions of a pluralityof RGB LEDs based on the LED activation scheme.
 16. The method of claim15, wherein the plurality of RGB LEDs is associated with a puddle lightsystem, an internal ambient lighting system, or an external ambientlighting system.
 17. The method of claim 15, comprising: identifying anarticle of clothing of the user; extracting image color informationassociated with the article of clothing of the user from the image;creating RGB color values indicative of a color associated with thearticle of clothing; and generating the LED activation scheme based onthe RGB color values associated with the article of clothing.
 18. Themethod of claim 17, comprising: extracting predominant image colorinformation and secondary image color information associated with theuser from the image; creating RGB color values indicative of thepredominant color and the secondary color; and generating the LEDactivation scheme based on the RGB color values associated withpredominant color or the secondary color.
 19. The method of claim 18,comprising: generating a second LED activation scheme based on thesecondary color; and activating portions of a second plurality of RGBLEDs based on the second LED activation scheme.
 20. A method forpersonalized vehicle ambient lighting on a vehicle, comprising:detecting presence information associated with a user; capturing imagecolor information from an image taken by the camera such that the useris within the image; extracting a first and second image colorinformation associated with the user from the image; creating first andsecond red, green, blue (RGB) color values indicative of a first andsecond color associated with the user based on the extracted first andsecond image color information; generating a first and second lightemitting diode (LED) activation scheme based on the first and second RGBcolor values associated with the user; and activating portions of afirst and second plurality of RGB LEDs based on the first and second LEDactivation schemes, respectively.